General Organizing

I feel like Valentine’s Day is the official holiday of XOXOrganizing. It’s the only time of year when I see soooo much “XOXO” on everything. Of course, I want to buy it all! Even my dad will call me to say that he found something with “XOXO” on it and wants to know if he should buy it for me. Hahaha!

Valentine’s Day is on Tuesday, February 14th.This is your friendly reminder to plan ahead. Here’s a quick guide that can help you feel more organized.

As you probably could guess, I love to chat with people about home organization. It’s an especially fun conversation when it’s a husband and wife who each have complaints about the other person. I hear lots of stories- some of which I think are exaggerated just to prove a point! The #1 frustrating comment I hear is that people want to organize their homes, but don’t know where to start. The funny thing is…the best place to start doesn’t have much to do with actual organization. First donate or toss (or sell) the things you know you don’t want anymore. Once you create a little pocket of space in each drawer, cabinet and shelf, it’ll be easier to figure out how to organize everything.

I created the XOXO Donate Challenge to help you get a little closer to your organization goal. This is a 30-day challenge (from September 1st- September 30th) where you donate 30 things in 30 days (or as much as you want, of course). To make things more fun, you can have a friend print the XOXO Donate Challenge and you can follow along together.

Donate Challenge Tips:1. Take before/after photos- it helps to see your progress.2. Try not to spend more than 5-10 seconds deciding if you want to KEEP or DONATE an item. If you’re not sure what to do, the answer is “keep it”. You can go back to it at a later time.3. Resist the urge to organize during this challenge. Organizing takes time and planning. I want to make sure you get through the Donate Challenge before you start organizing.4. Put on a little music while you donate. Music is a good distraction.5. Of course, not every space is listed in the Donate Challenge. If you have time, go through other areas of your home before the challenge is over on September 30th.

I’m going to be posting daily reminders on social media throughout the month of September. You can find XOXO on Facebook or Instagram (@xoxorganizeyourlife). If you’d like to share your progress- I’d love to see how you’re doing! Be sure to use #XOXO30DAYS when you post before/after photos so others can be inspired by your donating efforts.

If you’re feeling inspired to organize after you’ve completed the XOXO Donate Challenge, you can watch my 2-minute organizing videos on YouTube. I’ve filmed 42 organizing videos to help you as you organize your home. My most popular video right now is How to Store Blankets– hahaha! Totally not sure why that’s the most popular video.

When Nails Magazine calls and asks if you have any time management tips, you say, “YES! YES! YES!” They only needed 10 for the article, but here are a few more of the time management lessons I’ve learned over the years…

Take your calendar everywhere you take your phone and your keys. If someone calls and tries to make plans with you while you’re out, it’s best to know how your week is looking before you make any promises.

Write all your tasks on paper instead of relying on your memory to remember things. Your mind is like that hand-crank BINGO cage. The tasks in your mind crank around all day long and unfortunately, you remember tasks at random and then you get in the habit of putting out fires instead of planning your day intentionally.

Many of us use a calendar for timed appointments only (dentist appointments, hair appointments, meetings, etc.) Use your calendar for the 100 other tasks you need to get done in a day too- like baking cupcakes for the kids’ fundraisers, picking up the dry cleaning, buying stamps, getting gas, signing up to be room mom, getting your passports renewed, etc.

Look at your calendar multiple times each day. This way you’ll have a good understanding of what needs to be done next.

Reward yourself at the end of 3 completed tasks (I’ll get 15 minutes on Instagram if I finish these tasks in 30 minutes or less)- making your to-do list a game can make things more fun- and more efficient.

Make plans, at least, 4 days in advance. Trying to squeeze in a last-minute lunch might throw off the rest of your day.

Use your phone’s alarm to help you stay on task. If you know you only have 30 minutes to do your hair, set an alarm and snooze it until your 30 minutes is up.

Make a list each night for the tasks you need to get done the next day- even assign start + end times to each task. Pad enough time (usually 15 will suffice) in between tasks to get everything done on time. If someone asks you to squeeze something in- you can either say “not today” or exchange a task on your list for the new one.

Use your to-do list like a scavenger hunt list. Do what you need to do, then come back to your list, cross off the completed task and move on to the next one. Your list will help you stay focused so you won’t spend too much time on any one task. Anything you don’t get done can be moved to a later time or the next reasonable day.

You have so many tasks each day and spending too much of your time volunteering will make you unavailable for your everyday tasks. Keep this in mind before signing up for another volunteer project.

Don’t plan fun tasks around your life or you’ll never have fun. Instead, plan ahead and schedule fun tasks and then your life will just have to accommodate.

Sometimes we find ourselves procrastinating when it comes to some of our routine tasks (cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, washing dishes, taking out the trash, etc.). Procrastination is not necessarily a bad thing. It just usually means we’re not too fond of doing a certain task. Times like these require a bit of creativity. First, make a list of the routine tasks you don’t enjoy doing, then pick the few you’re willing to do that ONLY you can do, next assign the rest of the tasks to the rest of your family and finally you may need to look into hiring someone to do the rest of what’s on your list.

When planning a date-night, consider calling for a babysitter a couple weeks in advance.

Put a deadline next to each tasks so you know which ones are priorities and which ones can be moved to another day.

Use a master calendar for the entire family. Be the boss. Everyone else MUST go through you before they schedule and reserve dates for activities.

Organize your bathroom so you can find everything you need in the morning- getting ready takes longer than we’d all like to admit. Don’t overcrowd your vanity- remove all extra items- keep it organized and only stock the bare essentials.

Organize your bills and pay them on-time to give you peace of mind (you can use your calendar to mark the exact day you want to pay each one).

Organize your closet by donating unwanted clothing + accessories, then group like-items together so you know what you have and can always find what you’re looking for.

Ever been curious what it’s like to work with a home organizer? The best way to know is to ask! My XOXO subscribers had a few questions for me…here are my answers.

Q: What do you do when a client is adamant about keeping things that you think are unnecessary?

A: I love this question, but first, let me just say… it’s not MY job to determine whether something is unnecessary or not. Having said that, I have a fool-proof way of figuring out if my CLIENTS think something is unnecessary- I pay attention to their facial expressions as we’re organizing together. I’ll ask them if they want to keep something and their face will usually tell me how much they really want to keep it. If they really aren’t sure, I always recommend keeping the item in an easily accessible place so they can have a chance to use the item. Eventually, we’ll know what to do.

Q: My garage is a mess and I want to organize it, but it’s mostly my husband’s stuff and he wants to keep it the way it is. What can I do?

A: Hahaha! Well…as much as I want to say you should tie him up and organize YOUR garage the way YOU want to, I somehow think the correct answer is that you can only organize what belongs to you (in this case, usually half- hahaha) and leave the rest until your husband is ready to commit to organizing the garage with you. It’s more productive when all parties involved are on board for the organizing project.

Q: If a potential client is embarrassed about their messy house, how do they get over this feeling and make the call to get the help they need to start organizing?

A: It’s funny because sometimes people will warn me over the phone that their house is “really messy”, but then, when I get there- it’s not really “messy” to me. I can understand that when you have to live, work, raise kids and find things in your house every day, your house can start to overwhelm you. You might even start to feel like it’s so messy that you don’t even know where to start organizing it. Sometimes it takes a second pair of eyes and a fresh perspective to get through it and start making changes.

Q: How do you figure out where to start with a new client? (what part of the house)

A: Here are a few factors that help me decide where to start organizing with a new client:

How dissatisfied are they with the space?

How often do they use the space?

How long will it take to organize the space?

How important is the space to their everyday life?

Who else is using the space?

Q: After you help a client weed out, clean up and get organized, do you help them figure out how to continue on that path and not fall back into old habits?

A: YES! YES! YES! The good news is that once we get the house organized the way we want it, it only takes minutes each day to keep it that way. Using their calendar as a tool (I show moms how to use their calendars like a personal assistant), I teach my clients how to prioritize their tasks so that they’re living each day intentionally and not just putting out fires all the time. We also use chore charts so we can get the kids involved. I check-in with my clients from time-to-time and even make follow-up appointments a couple times each year to make sure we don’t fall back into old habits.